My stroll through the alleys ended up as just a few steps by how short the area available to me was. Counting the columns, there were four bookshelves in total that I had access to. Even if I somehow managed to unlock greater part of the shop, the number of columns didn"t change, only allowing me to potentially browse through the next rows in search for anything my heart would require.
Just by thinking about how many different elements there was that I could use to make a spell and mindnumbing amount of possible variations between them made it obvious that books and articles located in the shelves didn"t even come close to listing out all the possible spells. From there, it was just a short way to understand that each column of bookshelves represented a different kind of things. But what made them vary?
Taking a few steps back, I approached the leftmost bookshelf and started picking out random books from it.
"Weak Armour Spell"
"Basic Flight"
"Rejuvenation"
"Body enchantment"
Quite obviously, just the t.i.tles of those books gave pretty "magical" vibe, despite not being too far from abilities that your everyday cultivator would obtain before reaching the pinnacle of the spiritual realm.
Take a flight for example. While it wasn"t officially quantified anywhere, most cultivators were capable of soaring through the air around establis.h.i.+ng dominion level. Even if proficient use of this insane mobility was open only for real saint realm cultivators, I doubted this "basic flight" would fare any better.
Sadly, all of those books were tightly shut, as if some kind of electromagnet was holding the first and end page together, allowing me to move only the cover part. From those examples, I picked I learned that the t.i.tle page contained only the t.i.tle and the cost of unlocking said book.
Most of those that I checked out varied from ten to fifty, making me believe that instead of using my normal attribute points, I would have to buy them with those spell points that so far, I only could obtain from the gift package.
Tough luck… Not only I have no idea how to farm more of those extremely valuable points, but the secret of receiving even more of those gifts is also still hidden!
Putting the manuals back in their respective place, I moved to the second shelf.
Taking my sweet time didn"t seem to be a problem after the last rea.s.surance that Bonger gave me. Considering how this entire place took over my vision and entire consciousness, I think I could safely a.s.sume that it worked exactly the same as this spell crafting interface gifted to me in my first and so far last gift package.
Without any need to worry about the pa.s.sage of time, I browsed through the second bookshelf. Just like I guessed earlier, it"s content was vastly different from the previous manuals I looked through.
"Seed of fire crafting manual"
"Introduction to alchemy"
"First Principle Theorem"
Okay now, I spend entire ten years back on earth abhorring those kinds of words. Introduction to alchemy? Maybe just call it an introduction to physic already? First principle theorem? How about Pitagoeran one?
No, those books might be useful at some point in the future, but there is no way I will either waste any time - even if its slowed down ten times - or even less likely, my precious points! What I need right now is quick powerup to sate my paranoia before the duel, and let me settle up for a slow and peaceful life with Eve!
Not even bothering to put those books away from where did I picked them up, I moved to the next shelf. This time, however, I was in for a surprise.
While the bookshelf remained exactly the same as in the previous cases, but its content was vastly different. Instead of books, the entire piece of imaginary furniture was filled with tablets, just like the ones recently popularized on earth, but decorated all over.
"Weak mana potion (x10)"
"Weak health potion (x10)"
"Weak training potion (x2)"
"Parasitic core"
Whenever I took the tablet, I couldn"t help but marvel at the intricacy of its design. It looked just like if someone took the cover of a medievalistic book, ripped it and then incorporated a small but precise image of the item on top of it. Only after fiddling with those tablets for a while did I realise that just by swiping the image to the side, did it reveal a short description of the items.
That was enough to let me know that I hit the jackpot!
While this parasitic core sounded awful and initially sparked a hope that I would be able to use it on my enemies to steal all of their hard-earned cultivation, it turned out to be something far better suited for my plans! The only drawback was its the price. With all the books costing up to fifty spell points, I couldn"t help but inwardly curse when I saw a glowing number of one hundred fifty slapped at the very bottom of its description!
No matter how useful it would be, I can"t stand this d.a.m.n Bonger greed! No matter how hard I work to earn any points, it is simply too eager to rip them off from my virtual wallet!
This time, my manners returned and my hands placed the tablets that I was browsing through kindly back on the shelf. No matter what, I still had one more bookshelf to go, but unless I found something unfairly great, I was already set on buying this parasitic core!
"Crude mana ring"
"Basic Staff Core"
"Mage"s apprentice robe"
Compared to the previous tablets, the ones I looked at right now offered items that were clearly of multiple uses. Contrary to my expectations, their prices were far more reasonable than I expected after being surprised by the cost of parasitic core and other consumables.
I can only hope that those points had some miraculous effects, otherwise buying them would be the dumbest thing I would ever do!
With the last part of the currently accessible area already checked, there was nothing else left for me to do in this imaginary s.p.a.ce. Even if the core looked to be an answer for all my troubles connected with the task of creating a mage"s tower, there was no way I would splurge so many points on it without properly going through every single manual or tablet on those bookshelves first.
Bonger, would you be so kind as to bring me back to reality now?
Even if there was a silver of urge in my mind to drop everything and just vert through everything in this shop before going back, I still remembered that pa.s.sage of time was slowed, but not stopped. Just checking out the t.i.tles, description and price of every item accessible for me right now would take me ages, making it outside of my reach to waste so much of my time on it here and now!
Today was my last day where I could either enjoy my time with Eve, explore the city or settle the last minute matters. With the closing ceremony for the first phase of the tournament tomorrow, not only I wanted to watch it, but Eve was required to show herself on the stage as well.
Even by taking conservative measures, we would have to waste at least half of the day on this, leaving only the other half before obligatory rest and the duel the day after!